Public awareness has grown about email scams -- known as phishing -- that seek to elicit money or private information or get the recipient to download malware.
Less well known is a variation called "smishing," in which a text message is sent instead of an email. (The word smishing is a mashup of SMS, or short message service, and phishing.)
The N.H. Attorney General's Office on Wednesday warned of a smishing scam that uses E-ZPass' logo to make the text look more authentic.
"The current scam involves text messages that appear to be from NH E-ZPass which inform the recipient that their vehicle has an unpaid invoice based on their use of NH E-ZPass lanes," the AG's office said in a news release.
It is typical for online scams to try to create a sense of urgency in order to get a response, with the fraudster claiming there is an unpaid bill or undelivered package.
The E-ZPass smishing text provides a link to make a payment and says failure to pay the invoice will result in late fees.
In actuality, the state's E-ZPass system does not send unsolicited text messages or emails seeking payment for outstanding toll fees.
"Residents who receive such messages can forward the suspicious message to 7726 (SPAM) to alert their mobile provider and then delete the message," the attorney general's office said. "Recipients should never respond to these messages and should never click any links embedded in the message.
"Those who receive a fraudulent text can also file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov."
They can also report it to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-888-468-4454.
The E-ZPass website -- https://www.ezpassnh.com/ -- is also warning of the scam. That site offers a secure way for people to check their account and make payments.
The FBI has issued warnings about smishing scams, including one reported by the Internal Revenue Service in which the perpetrator tried to gain taxpayers' personal and financial information.
According to the FBI, cybercrimes are costing Americans more than $1 billion per year.